Silicon Chip №5 2019.pdf

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Contents

Vol.32, No.5; May 2019

SILICON

CHIP

www.siliconchip.com.au

Features & Reviews

12 Avalon Airshow: from killer drones to spacecraft!

ILICON

HIP

visited the Australian International Airshow and Aerospace & Defence

Exposition (also known as the Avalon Airshow), to take a look at the latest

aerospace technology. We came away very impressed! – by Dr David Maddison

38 El Cheapo Modules: Class D amplifier modules

Here are two bargain Class-D amplifier modules which tend to put the lie to that

old adage that you only get what you pay for! One of these sells for less than $10,

p&p included – but you get a 3 x 50W RMS powerhouse! – by Allan Linton-Smith

83 Review: Microchip’s new “SNAP” debugger/programmer

Somewhat less complex and much lower in cost than the PICkit 4, we believe that

the SNAP will become popular as an economical first programmer or even as a

second device you can carry with your laptop or notebook – by Tim Blythman

We made a flying visit (pardon the

pun!) to the Australian International

Airshow at Avalon, Victoria. Wow!

– Page 12

Audio

processing

has never

been this

good!

– Page 26

Constructional Projects

26 DSP Active Crossover and 8-channel Parametric Equaliser

Adjust and tailor any audio signal to the way YOU want it with this versatile project.

You can also use it to “Biamplify” a pair of speakers – and many other tasks.

Offers very low distortion and noise, too – by Phil Prosser and Nicholas Vinen

44 Solar-powered data repeater for 433MHz remotes

Sometimes your keyfob transmitter or other 433MHz remote control doesn’t have

the range you need, or it is affected by weather, etc. This solar-powered repeater

can give you up to double the range – and it’s all legal! – by John Clarke

We simply

could not

believe the prices

of these Class-D

amplifier modules out of China!

So are they any good? Well, you be

the judge! – Page 38

If you want more

range from your

UHF remote, try

this solar-powered

data repeater for

size. Simple, cheap

. . . and legal!

– Page 44

This BTL Adaptor splits

your audio signal

and feeds half to

each amp,

giving up to 4x the

power output

– Page 68

Microchip’s “SNAP”

– it’s a snap to use

and makes a great

first programmer

or even one to

keep with your

notebook or laptop – Page 83

When a 2.4” or 2.8”

display just

isn’t good enough

. . . use a 3.5” in-

stead

– Page 86

68 Bridge adaptor gives four times your amplifier power!

When you want real power, build this simple project. It drives two amplifiers (or

even two channels of a stereo amp) out of phase to give up to 4x the original

power. Build it in a Jiffy box or into your existing amplifier – by Nicholas Vinen

86 Low-cost 3.5-inch LCDs for Arduino or Micromite

There’s a big difference between a 2.8-inch and a 3.5-inch display – you can get

so much more information on them. We’ve found some quite cheap 3.5 inchers

that you can use with your Arduino or Micromite project – by Tim Blythman

Your Favourite Columns

61 Serviceman’s Log

Samsunk – the dishwasher that wouldn’t! – by Dave Thompson

96 Circuit Notebook

(1) Battery-powered Steam Train Whistle

(2) Switching cooling fan based on power supply load

(3) ESP32 Internet Radio Receiver

100 Vintage Radio

Admiral 1956 5ACW Clock Radio – by Graham Parslow

Everything Else!

2 Editorial Viewpoint

4 Mailbag – Your Feedback

109 S

ILICON

HIP

NLINE

HOP

105 Product Showcase

106

111

112

Ask S

ILICON

HIP

Market Centre

Advertising Index

Notes and Errata

www.facebook.com/siliconchipmagazine

SILICON

CHIP

Publisher/Editor

Nicholas Vinen

www.siliconchip.com.au

Editorial Viewpoint

“Crippleware” possibly to blame

for two airliner crashes

No doubt you have heard about the two Boeing 737 Max

8 airliners which crashed in the last six months: Lion Air

flight JT610, which crashed on 29 October 2018, killing

189; and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, which crashed on

March 10, killing 157.

You may have also heard that there is a suspicion that a

fault in the angle-of-attack (AOA) sensor, which controls the MCAS anti-stall sys-

tem, led to both crashes. This system can move the nose of the aircraft up or down

if it thinks the aircraft is in danger of stalling. But faulty sensor data could lead it

to ‘fight’ the pilots during normal flight.

(A report on the flight 302 crash, unofficially released as I am writing this, claims

that there was no indication of damage to the AOA sensor. But it still seems that

MCAS was a factor in both crashes.)

In a truly bizarre engineering decision, although these aircraft have two AOA

sensors, only one was used as an input to the MCAS system. I can’t understand

that; if you have redundant sensors, why not use them? And how could they have

thought that MCAS did not need redundancy, when it affects how the plane flies?

At the very least, if the two sensors were giving different data, MCAS could be

disabled on the basis that it’s better to do nothing than act on suspect data.

But even more damning to me is the fact that the aircraft were fitted with a

warning system which tells pilots when the two sensors are giving conflicting

data (which would be required even if MCAS paid attention to both sensors). But

on both doomed aircraft, it had not been enabled because that feature cost extra!

I’m sorry, but these sensors were inputs into a system which affects how the air-

craft flies. Charging extra for a safety system which is just activating a pre-existing

warning light is wrong on so many levels. I understand that this system will now

be enabled on all 737 Max 8 aircraft via a software update.

I think that’s called closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

I’m not the kind of person to get worked up about little things, but it annoys me

when manufacturers sell me an expensive product which has extra hardware fea-

tures, but they won’t enable them unless I pay more.

This practice is known as “crippleware”, which is when “vital features [of soft-

ware or hardware] ... are disabled until the user purchases a registration key”.

While I don’t necessarily mind paying a little bit extra to enable more features,

it isn’t unheard of for the cost of these extra features to add up to way more than

what you pay for the item in the first place! That makes me very annoyed.

And it isn’t just aircraft where safety features have become crippleware. Every

night I see people driving around without their headlights on. That’s dangerous.

There have been times where I have come close to having a collision with such a

vehicle, as I could not see it until the last second.

In modern vehicles, this can be easily solved by the addition of a ten cent LDR

to detect the ambient light level, a few lines of code to switch on the headlights

when it’s dark and maybe an extra transistor or relay to do the switching.

We’re hardly talking sheep stations to implement this basic safety feature.

In some cases, automatic headlights can be enabled by plugging a laptop into the

car and twiddling a bit in the ECU. And yet, many manufacturers charge several

thousand dollars for the “options” package which includes this feature.

I think this should be made mandatory on all new vehicles. It’s a fundamental

safety feature which costs almost nothing to implement.

And I’d hate to have been involved in designing the 737 Max 8, especially the

MCAS or related systems. They’re going to have some very awkward questions

to answer.

Editor Emeritus

Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD

Technical Editor

John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.)

Technical Staff

Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc

Bao Smith, B.Sc

Tim Blythman, B.E., B.Sc

Technical Contributor

Duraid Madina, B.Sc, M.Sc, PhD

Art Director & Production Manager

Ross Tester

Reader Services

Ann Morris

Advertising Enquiries

Glyn Smith

Phone (02) 9939 3295

Mobile 0431 792 293

glyn@siliconchip.com.au

Regular Contributors

Dave Thompson

David Maddison B.App.Sc. (Hons 1),

PhD, Grad.Dip.Entr.Innov.

Geoff Graham

Associate Professor Graham Parslow

Ian Batty

Cartoonist

Brendan Akhurst

ilicon

hip

is published 12 times

a year by Silicon Chip Publications

Pty Ltd. ACN 626 922 870. ABN 20

880 526 923. All material is copy-

may be reproduced without the written

consent of the publisher.

Subscription rates: $105.00 per year,

post paid, in Australia.

For overseas rates, see our website

or email

silicon@siliconchip.com.au

Editorial office:

Unit 1 (up ramp), 234 Harbord Rd,

Brookvale, NSW 2100.

Postal address: PO Box 139,

Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097.

Phone (02) 9939 3295.

E-mail: silicon@siliconchip.com.au

ISSN 1030-2662

Recommended & maximum price only.

Printing and Distribution:

Derby Street, Silverwater, NSW 2148.

Nicholas Vinen

Australia’s electronics magazine

siliconchip.com.au

ilicon

hip

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